Summary

On March 22, 2014, an Ebola epidemic was officially declared in Guinea. Over the course of the next year, the virus would infect more than 25,000 people in nine countries and claim more than 10,000 lives, dwarfing all previous Ebola outbreaks. For comparison, the biggest previous outbreak had a total of 425 cases.

Vaccination is a cornerstone of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) work to reduce illness and death caused by preventable diseases. While global immunization coverage reached 84 percent in 2013, in some places vaccination rates have stagnated, leaving behind children chronically unimmunized and unprotected. For more than 40 years, MSF has been at the forefront of vaccine delivery in crisis contexts, and in response to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. We also conduct routine immunization in areas where health systems have failed.

Typhoon Haiyan, or Yolanda as it is known locally, the strongest typhoon ever recorded at landfall, ripped through the central Philippines on November 8, 2013. It caused devastation on an unprecedented scale—roofs were ripped off, villages were flattened, livelihoods were swept away, and a tsunami-like storm surge claimed more than 6,300 lives and displaced some four million people.*

A retrospective mortality survey conducted by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) between March 26 and April 8, 2014, found that 8 percent (2,599 people) of the members of the families who took refuge in Sido, in southern Chad, died between November 2013 and April 2104, during a period of persecution targeting the Central African Republic’s (CAR) Muslim minority.

Large parts of South Sudan have been engulfed in conflict for the past six months. On December 15, 2013, violence broke out amongst security forces in the capital Juba, following longstanding political tensions within the ruling party.

This report outlines the comprehensive model of pediatric TB care and presents the project experience in Tajikistan. Based on this experience it draws some conclusions and proposes some recommendations for scaling up pediatric TB care in the Central Asian and Eastern European region. It is intended to share experiences and lessons learned, highlight shortfalls and signpost opportunities to improve pediatric TB care and fully include children in National TB Programs.